Government : In the Statehouse: 2013 Legislative session begins

Most legislators view their first week back into session kind of like the first week of school. There is a lot of anticipation because each General Assembly and each session is different. You have moved down to Des Moines and are staying in a hotel or maybe you were lucky enough to find a house to rent for four months. Even if you weren’t in a strange bed with a lumpy pillow, you have so much excitement that you can’t sleep the night before - - your outfit is picked out, your bags are packed and you’ve tried to prepare yourself in every way you can ahead of time. Then there is the little niggling thread of dread on what you might have missed or what circumstances are going to happen there was no way you could have prepared for.

When you pull up into your assigned parking spot in the Capitol lot, you get out and look up at the building and wonder how on earth you were so lucky that your people trust you to work in that amazing place for them.

You go in and the first day of a General Assembly is a flurry of activity. People’s families and friends are there to witness their commitment when they take their oaths and the room is swirling with all kinds of other activities you aren’t used to, like television cameras being set up and unexpectedly having microphones put up to your mouth and being asked questions. That standing outside looking at the building and the determination to do a good job for your people is already there with that microphone and hoping you don’t stutter or say something stupid to embarrass anyone. This week, I was heading to the Ladies Room because my hair had escaped from the clip and Channel 7 stopped right in front of me with a camera and microphone and wanted to know what I thought we were going to work on. My first two thoughts, “My hair is wiggin’!” and then “Do your best to make them proud.” We never see how it turns out, so hopefully it wasn’t too bad and you did NOT notice the hair!

In November, I was working with the State Fire Marshall on some bill requests and he mentioned the Firefighters needed a morale boost and had we ever had anyone help us open up the session. We really hadn’t on the first day because it’s so chaotic, but between us and Speaker Paulsen, the State Fire Marshall’s Honor Guard flanked the center aisle for the Presentation of the Colors, bagpipes and the Des Moines Fire Chief, John Tekippe, sang the National Anthem. Every person in the room had goose bumps from the honor of it. Thank you to our Firefighters for your service and starting us out right.

On Tuesday, Governor Branstad gave his Condition of the State address and his 2014 budget was handed out for us to pull apart by departments and get to work on. We are doing really well in Iowa.

* Unemployment numbers are at 4.9% and there are jobs out there if you want one.

* After we worked so hard to bring our budget in line by spending less that we collected, prioritizing all the different needs, moving all appropriate spending to the general fund where it’s transparent to the public and staying disciplined to those principles – it’s paid off. For the 2012 budget, we collected more from you than we should’ve and will be working to get it back to you as rebates. We are in the middle of the 2013 budget and so far, we are receiving more taxes than we budgeted for. We may have the same situation for 2013.

* The Governor’s budget is our starting point. Normally the departments go and ask for money, the Governor tells them what he wants them to do and assigns money for it. Usually his is less than they ask for. The Legislature goes over his budget and assigns our own priorities to it and usually we go less than the Governor asks for. So Departments to Governor to Legislature, those are our checks on spending. This is my 9th year and in 2005 our budget was around $4.5 billion. The Governor’s budget for 2014 is $6.538 billion. Even in the downturn of the economy years, we have had raises from you every single year and in spite of the checks on spending, are at spending levels over $2 billion more in only 9 years.

There will be more details on the budget and other things in my emailed newsletter and at the Legislative Coffees. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, send an email to dawn.pettengill@legis.iowa.gov and we will get you signed up.

Also, the first two Legislative coffees will be on January 26th. On that Saturday, Senator Kapucian and I will be at the Keystone Public Library at 10:00 a.m. and the Mount Auburn American Legion at 1:30 p.m. to tell you what’s happening at the Capitol and to get your feedback. Hope you can make it!